Come Home
by Just a Little Spark
Summary: "I just want him home already, so I can see him, and I can touch him and hug him and... I want to know if he's safe, if he's not bleeding his guts out on the side of the road and - why are you looking at me like that?" In which Sai should have been home from a mission two weeks ago, and Ino can't help but worry. (SaiIno OneShot)


(*)

 _She_ _'s singing "baby come home", in a melody of tears, while the rhythm of the rain keeps time. - Jetpack Blues, Fall Out Boy_

(*)

"Come on, Pig. Stop worrying about your boyfriend!" Haruno Sakura said cheerfully, or at least, _tried_ to say cheerfully. The two were currently in Ino's flower shop, chatting about idle things. Sakura liked stopping by whenever she was either on her way to or from the hospital (it was the latter, in today's case), so that the two of them could chat, and catch up on all the things they hadn't said to each other since... Yesterday.

Yamanaka Ino squinted at Sakura through narrowed blue eyes, as she forcefully shoved some gardenias into a vase. "I'm _not_ worried." _She was worried_. But she didn't need to tell Sakura that. Why needlessly worry others about her problems?

The pinkette rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'd tell that to those poor flowers. And the poor customer who's buying them."

Ino snorted, and tried to hide her panic while she nonchalantly took the gardenias out of the vase, smoothing out their petals with her freshly-manicured nails. "The vase was too small, is all."

Sakura sighed, watching Ino as the blonde scurried into the back room for new flowers. Her friend had a lot on her plate, these days, so she couldn't blame her. "You don't have to keep on hiding it, you know. It's pretty normal to be worried for Sai." Sai was currently on a mission for Konoha - an S-Rank that he was currently taking with Naruto and Lee. Ino had no problems with her boyfriend taking these missions; for one, she knew he could handle himself. Secondly, he was with _Naruto_ and _Lee_ \- two powerhouses if any.

The thing was, the said mission was only supposed to last for two weeks - plenty of time to get all loose ends tied up. Today officially marked the end of a month since Sai's departure. Of _course_ Ino was worried. Never _mind_ the fact that the team wasn't supposed to give away their location by sending out _any_ messages whatsoever. She had no way of knowing if anything had happened to him, and it was _killing_ her.

"You have that look on your face again, Pig," Sakura commented, noticing Ino's furrowed eyebrows and tightened lips.

"Shut up, Forehead. Wait." Ino frowned. "What look?"

"That look you're always so afraid of getting wrinkles from," Sakura sighed. "Honestly. Just talk to me, Ino." Sakura studied her best friend for a long time - the way Ino was biting her inside of her cheek (the blonde never bit her lips; she might ruin her lip gloss, and lip biting was 'unsightly') was a sign that she was about to talk. The bell above the door rang, signalling a customer, and the cheek-biting ended. Sakura groaned inwardly.

"Flowers. I need them, woman."

"Wow, what a way to treat your _teammate_ , Shikamaru," Ino snarled, as the lazy jounin entered her shop, a scowl on his face. "What do you need them for, anyway? Fighting with Temari? _Again_?"

Shikamaru paused in front of the counter, after nodding a hurried greeting to Sakura. "Actually, I'm going to propose." The only sign he was serious was a small, pink tinge on his cheeks - something that was so hilariously out of place on Shikamaru's face that it was almost unbelievable. The mood in the room changed almost immediately.

"Wait - Are you serious?" Sakura asked Shikamaru, a hand over her mouth.

He nodded once, and grunted out a one-syllable word. "Yes." Ino and Sakura burst out into a loud squeal, which turned into shrieking and laughing.

"Shut up, shut up, _shut up_ ," Shikamaru muttered, running a hand down his face. "So troublesome."

"I never thought I'd see the day!" Ino cried out, wiping a tear from her eye. "Oh, I _have_ to whip up the _best_ bouquet for this. Come back for it tomorrow, you lazy bum," she said, with all the affection in the world.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever makes you happy," he muttered sarcastically.

"You know, no offence or anything, Shikamaru, but I always thought _Temari_ would be the one to propose," Sakura teased, while Ino, meanwhile, was writing something down on her order book.

"Looks like I proved you wrong, then, hm?" Shikamaru ran a hand through his hair, sighing. _So troublesome_. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed Ino's tense shoulders, while she penned in his order. "Hey."

She looked up, a frown on her face. "What?"

"Stop worrying. Okay? It's not good for you." He sighed. "The Sixth isn't worried about them, he just thinks they might have had to detour or something."

Ino froze, and set her mouth in a firm line. "I'm _not_ worried, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru sighed. "Fine. Whatever you say, woman. I rest my case." He turned away from the counter, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll be back tomorrow. See you." The door closed a few moments later, and Ino continued to scribble down ideas on her order notebook.

Sakura's gentle voice interrupted her a moment later. "You can stop pretending to write, Ino."

Ino sighed, and slammed her pen down on the counter. "I'm going _insane_ , Sakura!" she whined, throwing her head into her hands. "It's driving me _nuts_ \- I just want him home already, so I can see him, and I can touch him and hug him and... I want to know if he's safe, if he's not bleeding his guts out on the side of the road and - _why are you looking at me like that?_ "

Sakura had her chin cupped in one hand, as she smiled softly at her best friend. "Why, _pig_. I think you've _officially_ fallen in love with Sai."

Ino spluttered loudly, turning a nice shade of maroon. "N- _No_ , that's out of the question! It's just - we're just - _it's nothing serious_!" her voice climbed up several decibels as she waved her hands in circles.

"Every time your voice goes up a pitch, I'm _completely_ sure that you're not in love with him," Sakura smirked. "My, my, what _is_ it with Ino-Shika-Cho these days? You guys are getting bitten by the lovebug. I should go on missions with you three more often."

Ino huffed, and turned away from Sakura. "I don't _love_ him, Sakura, I..." Her voice trailed off as she was suddenly drowned in memories of him. His smooth, marble features. The emotions he only let trickle through the cracks of his personality when he was around her. The way she felt so light when she was with him. His hands, hesitant and warm over hers. His lips, soft and unyielding, booth hesitant and sure at the same time. His soft whisper, as it alternated between calling her both 'Beautiful' and 'Ino'.

The pinkette's smirk widened into a grin as she watched Ino's stubborn glare melt into a softer, far-off gaze. "You love him."

Ino clutched at the counter, knuckles turning white as she gripped the edge. Her bright blue eyes popped open, the realization that she had actually fallen truly, truly in love was like a neon sign above her face. " _Shit_."

Sakura giggled. Her best friend was known around the village as a bossy, flirtatious, beautiul woman. But only a select few people knew that Ino was actually very inexperienced with _love_ , something she had never, ever felt before. The blonde was probably in a self-induced whirlwind by now, finally knowing what being in love waas like.

Oh, Ino had it _bad_.

(*)

 _Five days later_.

Ino swung her feet out from below her, forwards and backwards, until they grew numb. She winced, and stopped for a moment, looking up at the dark sky. It was completely ironic that she had taken to waiting for Sai on the very same bench her best friend had always waited for Sasuke. The two friends were very tempted to completely vandalize the said bench, and call it the 'Love Boat', but that was a different story.

The blonde's worry had peaked over the past two days, which is what led her to keep vigil for him (and, fine, Naruto and Lee as well) at Sakura's favorite bench. Her heart would always beat fast when she heard someone approaching, but would frown, disappointed, when it turned out to be someone else. Over the days, Hinata and her team had passed by (the pale-eyed Hyuga heiress also expressing worry for her Naruto-kun), Chouji had returned from Kumogakure after a 'mission' (and yes, the quotation marks were necessary), and Shikamaru and Sakura had left for a real one. The looks people gave her were all the same - Pity. Shameless pity.

She did not need it. She did not want it. But it was there.

And on the fifth night of her vigil, a few minutes past one in the morning, it started to rain. Ino sighed, and simply pulled out her purple umbrella, opening it without a second thought. She would wait here, softly praying for him to come home, to come back to her. She would sit, and wait, until he-

That's when she heard it. Footsteps, splashing through puddles that hadn't had the time yet to actually become puddles. How many pairs of feet? Her ears strained themselves, as she stood up, her purple umbrella limp in her hands. Three? No, two pairs that were walking normally; the last pair was limping.

Her heart leapt; both with nervousness and joy. Was it him? Was it finally, finally, him? Was he injured? Was he safe?

Suddenly, Uzumaki Naruto and Rock Lee came out of the shadows, the latter being half-dragged by Naruto through the rain. "We're almost there, Bushy-Brows! Jeez, it took us so long to get here - Hey, Ino, what're you doing here?"

Ino found that she had lost her voice, as Sai _finally_ stepped out from the shadows of the trees, a stunned look on his face. It was pure, unadulterated shock that she was _here_ upon his return, one that she returned with an equally pure look of joy. She heard a faint protest; Lee, being ever the gentleman, was probably telling Naruto that they should go on ahead. He was only a few feet away from her, now, the corners of his mouth starting to turn up into a smile. A real smile.

"Ino?"

Her purple umbrella dropped to the floor as she ran, her tears mingling with the rain. He caught her easily as she launched herself into his arms, and as she pressed her face to the crook of his neck, she could barely hear his explanation. As far as she was concerned, she didn't need one.

His arms tightened around her after a few moments, and they stood there for a long time as the rain continued to pour. "I'm so glad... I'm so glad you're home, I'm so glad you're safe," Ino finally whispered, her voice muffled against his shoulder.

She didn't need to tell him she loved him, not just yet. She knew it would overwhelm him; even their small, chaste kisses were enough to send his thoughts into a frenzy. She would take it slow with him, and wait for him to know what love meant - for _him_. Ino would think about this later. Right now, she was just content with feeling his strong arms arond her, his chin on top of her head. He was alive; he was here. She felt whole.

And this was more she could have ever dreamed of.

(*)

 _Fight off the light tonight and just stay with me - Honey, don't you leave._

 _Jetpack Blues, Fall Out Boy_

(*)

 **I actually really loved writing this couple, for some reason. I'm starting to explore writing other couples** _ **besides**_ **NejiTen, and I'm liking this a lot. In particular, I've taken a liking to Ino, which is surprising. I just find her very easy to write. KibaIno soon, maybe?**

 **I was listening to Jetpack Blues by Fall Out Boy and the scene of Ino just waiting in the rain for Sai to come home just appeared in my head. I** _ **had**_ **to write it.**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it!**


End file.
